Grand jury indicts girlfriend of Lizzi Marriott murder suspect

Wednesday

Apr 10, 2013 at 3:15 AMApr 10, 2013 at 10:34 AM

By Jim Haddadinjhaddadin@fosters.com

BRENTWOOD — Kathryn “Kat” McDonough, the Portsmouth woman accused of lying to police about her whereabouts and interaction with Elizabeth Marriott on the night Marriott went missing, has been indicted by a grand jury.

Foster's has learned that jurors seated in Rockingham County returned one or more indictments against the 19-year-old last week. The documents are expected to be released publicly as early as this morning.

McDonough was arrested in December and charged with felony counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution and conspiracy to do the same. Both are class B felonies, and each carries a sentence of up to 7 years imprisonment.

McDonough's defense attorney, Andrew Cotrupi, confirmed Tuesday that jurors returned an indictment on at least one charge against his client. Cotrupi said he was still awaiting receipt of the formal paperwork.

Marriott, a 19-year-old University of New Hampshire sophomore, was last seen Oct. 9, and is presumed to be dead.

Dover resident Seth Mazzaglia was arrested a few days after her disappearance and charged with either suffocating or strangling her inside his apartment.

Prosecutors say McDonough was engaged in a romantic relationship with Mazzaglia before Marriott's disappearance.

The attorney general's office, which is prosecuting the case, faces a deadline this month to bring an indictment against Mazzaglia. He has been incarcerated at the Rockingham County House of Corrections in Brentwood since his arrest in October.

Although Marriott's body has not been recovered, prosecutors say they have gathered “credible” evidence indicating Mazzaglia suffocated or strangled Marriott inside his apartment on Mill Street the night she went missing.

That night, Marriott was planning to see a female friend after leaving campus in Durham at about 9 p.m. A family member said the friend lived in an apartment on Mill Street with her boyfriend, and that she became acquainted with Marriott while they were working together at a local Target.

Marriott failed to show up for work the following morning at Target in Greenland, and was also absent from class on Thursday, Oct. 11, prompting a widespread search for the missing teenager. The attorney general's office announced Marriott's death two days later.